BBxRAE Week 2015
by thatXoneXchick9999
Summary: My submissions for BBxRAE Week (2/15/15 to 2/21/15). Featuring short works with the following themes: Midnight, Second Kiss, Dreaming, Protection, and Firsts. There were two more themes, but I literally couldn't think of a damn thing for either of them, so I stopped at Day 5.
1. Midnight

First went the sheets, kicked off into the floor. Then the sheets were back on. She turned completely around, trying and failing to get comfortable on her back, sides, and then stomach. She turned to the left one more time and caught sight of her clock.

12:00 AM glowed mockingly at her. She'd been lying awake for two hours now. Tired of it, she kicked her sheets away again and then sat up. Moving around would be the best thing for her restlessness. She stood up and walked out of the room, neglecting her cloak, since she was fairly sure no one would see her at this time of night. Even if they weren't sleeping, her friends would probably be in their rooms.

She walked with no particular destination in mind, so she felt no surprise when she ended up in front of the door that led to the roof. That place was as good as any to try and tire herself out. She opened the door and stopped short.

"Beast Boy!" she snapped, without thinking.

For some stupid reason, the changeling had climbed onto the three foot high ledge surrounding the roof and was standing so close to the edge that Raven was certain his toes were only supported by air. Even worse, he hadn't been paying any kind of attention to his surroundings. Instead, he'd been staring off into the distance, seemingly lost in his thoughts. It was both uncharacteristic and slightly unsettling. Thankfully, he didn't jump in surprise when she thoughtlessly called out. Instead, he turned and greeted her with his usual grin and butchering of her name.

"Hey, Rae."

"Don't call me 'Rae,'" she replied automatically.

Convinced now that he wasn't up to something more idiotic than usual, she stepped through the doorway and onto the roof. When she was next to him, she stopped, not bothering to climb onto the ledge with him. For a bit, they simply stood quietly together, and then, in typical Beast Boy fashion, he broke the silence.

"Can't sleep?"

"Obviously."

"How come?"

"Just restless for some reason." She considered asking why he wasn't already asleep, but he saved her the trouble.

"Me too. I think it freaks Robin out. He suggested pills a couple times."

_That _was news to Raven. Beast Boy was famous for sleeping the day away and for being almost impossible to waken. Why was Robin suggesting sleeping pills?

"How long has this been going on?" she asked.

"What? Robin getting on my case?"

"The insomnia." she corrected, rolling her eyes.

"I don't have insomnia."

"Then why is Robin suggesting sedatives?" she asked slowly, like she was speaking to a child.

"It just freaks him out that I can't just _go to sleep_ like you guys can."

"You can't?" Raven had been unaware of this. She'd actually envied how well Beast Boy slept sometimes.

"Nope. I get restless. Like you are right now, just...every night."

Inwardly, Raven gaped. She'd been frustrated enough to hit something when she was in bed before and couldn't sleep. No way Beast Boy went through that _every _night.

"You do not." she said.

"Do too!" Beast Boy retorted. "It's my animal forms. I have the instincts of nocturnal things and jittery things and things with metabolisms waaaay higher than mine all jumbled up in here." He tapped the side of his head with a finger. "Sometimes it just feels like they're all running like a million miles an hour, trying to beat or claw their way out." He got quiet after that and stared off into the distance again, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Raven stared.

She'd never given any thought to Beast Boy's powers and the issues that might come with them until the "Beast incident." She'd assumed those issues had been resolved once he'd taken Cyborg's antidote. It honestly hadn't occurred to her that he dealt with other...complications.

"Has it always been like that?" she asked softly.

"Huh? Oh! The sleeping thing?" he asked before she could glower at him. "Pretty much, yeah. It's fine though."

How could it be fine? Raven wondered.

"How do you sleep, then?" she said aloud.

At that, Beast Boy grinned down at her. "I got a system. I just have to tire them out. I was about to go flying when you showed up. You wanna come?" he asked hesitantly.

For a second, Raven just looked at him. For some reason, she felt...privileged that he was asking, like he was sharing something that seemed very private with her.

Her silence seemed to discouraged Beast Boy, because he quickly spoke again. "You don't have to. You just said that you were, like, restless, and my flying always tires me out, so—"

"I'll go." she whispered, and she felt something in her flutter when he grinned.

"Come on." he said, holding out a hand.

She levitated up to his eye level instead. "Not necessary."

"Oh. Right." he said, taking the hand he'd offered and using it to scratch his head. "Well, let's go!"

With that, he transformed into a peregrine falcon and took off towards the bay, Raven right behind him.

The flight started out in a fairly typical speed, but Raven soon noticed that they were speeding up. Rapidly. In midair, Beast Boy changed into another bird, and then he sped up even more. She was able to keep up, but it was taking much more effort than she was used to. They had to be flying at least a hundred miles an hour, probably more.

She allowed the surprise to show on her face when he sped up yet again and then began executing a series of sharp loops, twists, and dives, always keeping pace with her, even though she was flying straight and as fast as she could. After a couple of minutes of aerial acrobatics, he was back at her side. She had no idea how a bird could look mischievous, but he pulled it off. He was going to try something.

"Don't even think about it!" she called over the wind whipping around them.

He simply squawked and flew up before morphing back into his human form and beginning to fall.

"I CAN SHOW YOU THE WORLD!" she heard him bellow as he fell past her. He transformed back into a bird and flew up until he was above her again. He morphed back into a man and dropped again. "SHINING, SHIMMERING, SPLENDID!" He turned back into a bird, flew up once more, and morphed back into a man.

A tendril of her soul-self snatched him out of the air, and she stopped, holding him a few inches in front of her. "You will _not _do that again."

"The singing or the falling?" he retorted cheekily.

"Both," she growled.

Without another word, she flung him away from her and watched as he transformed back into a falcon. His showing off out of the way, the flight seemed to take a more serious turn. It got faster and faster, and Beast Boy continued to pull off acrobatic feats in quicker succession. Raven was developing a headache using so much mental energy to keep up.

After what felt like an hour, Beast Boy flew over her again and morphed back into a man. As he fell, her magic snatched him up again and yanked him over to her.

"What did I say?!" she demanded, her headache making her snappish.

"I wasn't doing it to goof off this time, I swear. I just needed a way to tell you that I'm getting ready to head back now."

"Fine." she replied, letting him go. He transformed into a bird and flew back in the direction they'd come. She followed.

She wasn't sure what time it was when they made it back to the tower. All she knew was that she was practically dead on her feet when she landed on the roof. Had they flown any longer, and she might have simply dropped out of the sky. She'd realize later that she could have used a portal to come back to the tower, but she'd been too tired to think of it.

She yawned. "Now, I understand why you sleep so late." she said thoughtlessly.

Beast Boy grinned. It seemed all the grueling flight had done to him was relax him. The cretin.

"Let's go in," he replied. They started walking toward the door, Raven significantly slower than him. He adjusted his stride so that he walked next to her, but when she stumbled as they were going through the door, that seemed to be the last straw for him. Without consulting her, he put one arm behind her shoulders and hooked the other under her knees, lifting her up bridal style. "Come on, Rae."

"This is unnecessary. Put me down." she demanded. Or demanded as well as she could when she was so exhausted.

"You were about to fall over." Beast Boy replied. He shifted her in his grip and continued to carry her through the halls.

"I stumbled. Once." she grumbled.

"You were gonna pass out right there on the roof."

Though it was probably true, Raven still didn't like being carried around like a child. "Was not."

Beast Boy chuckled.

"What are you laughing at?"

"Nothin,'" he replied. At this point, he made it to her room. He adjusted his grip again and quickly typed in the override password to get into her room.

"People don't laugh at nothing." Raven insisted.

"It is nothing." Beast Boy said, "You're just...cute like this is all."

Normally, being called cute would have either embarrassed or infuriated Raven. At the moment, she was too sleepy to do more than say, "I am _not _cute."

"Sure, you're not."

"I'm...menacing." she said with a yawn.

"Totally."

"I am darkness."

"You are the night." Beast Boy agreed, wondering if she knew he was about to make a joke.

"I'm Batman." Raven deadpanned, and Beast Boy snorted, almost dropping her. She totally stole his joke, and that made it even funnier.

Gently, he laid Raven onto her bed, and then scooped up the blankets that had been kicked to the floor.

When Raven felt her blankets on her again, she yawned and wrapped them even tighter around her.

"'Night, Batman." she heard Beast Boy tease.

Having no idea what he was talking about, she simply told him to shut up.

"'Night, Raven." he whispered seriously, and she felt something brush her forehead. Granted, it was so fast, she might have imagined it. Ridiculously, she thought he might have just kissed her.

"'Night, Beast Boy." she whispered, and then he was gone.


	2. Second Kiss

Raven stared at Starfire, hoping the staring would make the alien change her mind about what she was asking. The Tamaranean's hopeful expression however, was unchanged.

"Remind me again why Cyborg can't do this?" Raven finally asked.

"Because Cyborg cannot keep..." Starfire looked around and then leaned forward so she could whisper in Raven's ear. "The secret."

"I'm not really interested in keeping 'the secret' either." Raven replied, gently mocking Starfire's exaggeration of the words.

"Please, Raven!" Starfire begged. "It is the eighteenth anniversary of Beast Boy's birth! I understand this is a very important occasion to celebrate on this planet, and I have worked quite diligently to prepare a celebration worthy enough to mark our friend's ascension into manhood."

"If you worked so diligently, then why isn't it done yet?" Raven asked, unimpressed with her friend's argument.

Starfire huffed. "Because Robin would not allow me to prepare a trial by combat for Beast Boy as is customary for coming of age on Tamaran, nor would he allow me to hire scantily clad women who dance provocatively as is customary for some Earth male celebrations."

Raven silently thanked Robin.

"I had to do large amounts of reorganization to make this celebration come to pass, and so I was not able to finish it in the time I originally thought I would. However, I am very close, and all I need from you is to simply keep Beast Boy from the ops center while Robin, Cyborg, and I finish the final details for the party of surprise. Pleeeease Raven? I have worked so hard, and I really do not wish to disappoint our friend."

Raven doubted Beast Boy would care if a streamer or two wasn't in their proper positions when he realized there was a party for him, but she couldn't withstand her friend's earnest pleas anymore. She wasn't completely heartless.

"Fine." she bit out, "I'll watch the hall and keep Beast Boy out of the ops center."

"Glorious!" Starfire chirped, her joy causing her to shoot off the ground and a couple of feet into the air. "Thank you, Raven! You are most helpful!"

Raven just rolled her eyes as Starfire turned to fly back into the ops center. Before she went through the doors though, she turned back around to face Raven.

"I truly am thankful for your assistance, Raven, but I must ask one more thing: please do not hurt Beast Boy in your attempts to distract him?"

Before Raven could reply, Starfire flew into the next room, and the door slid shut behind her. The empath glared at the doors. Now how exactly was she supposed to distract Beast Boy? Pain was apparently out of the question, but that seemed to be the only deterrent he responded to. Raven let out a huff. She finally decided that she'd cross that bridge if she ever came to it. Right now, all she could do was watch the halls. She took a long look in both directions and saw no sign of Beast Boy. Satisfied, she removed a small, leather-bound book from the pocket of her cloak and began to read. She made it through a whole chapter before she heard someone coming. Her eyes darted up, and then she quickly looked back down at her book. When Beast Boy was a few feet from the ops center doors, she spoke, affecting her usual bored monotone.

"I wouldn't do that."

Beast Boy started in surprise and then smiled at her. "Oh! Hey, Rae."

She gave him a look and then turned her attention back to her book, not that she'd actually get any reading done now that he was here.

"So...uh, why wouldn't _you _go in there?" Beast Boy asked, scratching his head.

"Robin and Starfire are involved in...romantic activities."

Beast Boy pulled a face. "Both of them have beds for that. Why would they go in there? My videogames are in there, man!"

"Heat of the moment or some nonsense." Raven said dismissively, still looking at her book.

"I'm going in there."

Raven shut her book with a snap, catching his attention. "Why would you want to subject yourself to that?"

"Because Robin's still emotionally constipated enough to get embarrassed when Star tries to get cuddly in public. He'll take Star out once I go in there." He tried to take another step forward.

"Since when do you use the phrase 'emotionally constipated'?" Raven asked, thinking quickly.

"I watched _Tarzan _a couple a nights ago. There's this part where Tantor is arguing with Turk, and he's like 'I have _had it with your emotional constipation!_'" The changeling snickered. "That was funny."

Raven could not recall that phrase in any adaptation of _Tarzan _she'd seen, but she didn't argue with him. It was an apt description of Robin in any case.

Taking her silence as a cue that the conversation was over, Beast Boy took a step towards the door. "Welp, good talk, Rae."

Raven took a couple of quick steps toward him, causing Beast Boy to stop again in surprise.

"Like I said, you probably don't want to go in there."

Now Beast Boy looked a little leery. "They're not, like, actually having sex in there or something, are they?"

Raven almost made a face at that thought and answered automatically. "I don't think so."

"Okay then." Beast Boy took another step forward, and Raven stepped in front of him.

"Why are you so determined to go in there anyway?" she demanded.

"Because it's my birthday, and there's a new _Mega Monkeys _game in there with my name on it! Why are _you _so determined to keep me out anyway?" he shot back.

"Who said I was?" she challenged, sidestepping when he tried to move around her.

"This little dance we're doing is doing a pretty good job of getting the message across."

"Does that mean you'll leave?"

"Why should I leave?" Beast Boy demanded. "I have just as much right to the ops center as Rob and Star!"

"Still, you can't go in there." Raven said stubbornly.

"Why?"

"You just can't. Not right now."

Beast Boy was quiet for a moment, and Raven thought she might have gotten through to him.

That hope was quickly dashed.

"Yeah...but I want my videogame." He took her shoulders and moved her out of his way before he started walking again.

Raven didn't know what to do. Starfire said she wasn't ready. She had to keep Beast Boy out, but she wasn't allowed to hurt him. What could she do?

"Beast Boy!" she exclaimed.

He kept walking.

"Beast Boy!"

He didn't reply.

"Beast Boy!"

He turned and snapped at her. "Wha—!" Before he could get the word completely out, Raven lunged and covered her mouth with his.

He froze.

She froze.

For a second, they just stood there, staring at each other with their mouths pressed together.

Raven thought she definitely could have planned this better; "this" being the most awkward moment of her entire life. She'd heard first kisses were usually so, but this was excruciating. All the kiss was, was mouths pressed together. It was a little damp, their mouths didn't seem to fit together at all, and there was no heat or hunger behind it like with kisses she'd read about. She was also embarrassed that she'd actually thought it would be like a story. Usually, she was self-aware enough to be above that kind of thing. And Beast Boy just _stared _at her like she'd just hit him over the head with a board, not moving at all, even to get away from her. She supposed it was up to her. She'd had enough of this farce anyway.

She pulled back and opened her mouth to say—or probably stammer—an excuse, but it seemed her movement was enough to break Beast Boy out of his reverie. Before she could defend her actions, his hand was at the back of her neck, and he yanked her lips back to his. Raven gasped when her mouth crashed into his, and he took advantage of that to slide his tongue past her lips. She gave a startled yelp at the feeling of a second tongue in her mouth, but that didn't stop Beast Boy. His mouth _plundered _hers, his tongue exploring every crevice like he'd never get a chance like this again. Idly, Raven realized _this _was the fire and hunger she'd been expecting the first time.

His tongue ceased its exploration of her mouth and focused its attention on her own tongue, coaxing it to take part in what was happening. Tentatively, she moved her tongue to meet his, and she felt him smile against her mouth. Without thinking, she reverted to her habit of trying to wipe his grins at her expense off his face. This time, she did it by shoving her tongue into _his _mouth. The smile left his face, but her victory was short lived. He immediately did something that caused her to let out an embarrassing squeak. Did he just _suck_ on her tongue? He did it again, and she felt an answering tug deep in the pit of her stomach in response. That felt good. Everything he was doing felt good. She moved her hands up his chest and then tangled them in his hair, pulling him closer. She wanted more.

Beast Boy's hand, which had been stroking the hair at the back of her neck, started to move down her back, and she shuddered as chills followed the hand's path down her spine. She felt both of his hands grip her hips and start to push her back. Thinking he was about to end the kiss, she gripped his hair tighter and sucked on _his _tongue, making him groan, and the fact that _she_ was the cause of that pleasured sound thrilled her to the core. Her eyes opened—when had they closed?—when she felt her back hit a wall. They drifted shut again when Beast Boy pressed even closer to her than before and kept kissing her.

Just when she was starting to wonder if air was actually necessary if one had to choose between it and kissing, she heard a shriek, forcing her and Beast Boy apart with a smack of their lips. Panting, she turned her head in the direction the sound had come from and saw Starfire, Robin, and Cyborg standing in the doorway to the ops center, gaping at them.

Suddenly the gravity of what happened sunk in, and Raven felt her face heat up until she was sure it was bright red. Beast Boy's face was also red, but he looked so dazed that she wasn't sure it had occurred to him to be embarrassed yet.

For a moment, they all simply stared at each other before a voice that sounded like Speedy's came from behind Starfire, Cyborg, and Robin. "Come on, guys! What's the hold up?"

Spurred into action, Starfire flew to Beast Boy and took his arm. "Beast Boy, I have the most wonderful surprise for you! Come with me!"

Beast Boy allowed himself to be led away from Raven, but before he passed through the doors, he turned back and gave Raven a small smile.

She couldn't help but return it, and that made his smile blossom into a grin. He was still grinning when Starfire led him out of the hall.

Once he was gone, Raven looked back at the other boys. They'd gotten past gaping shock and looked like they were about to say something. The glower she sent their way closed both their mouths, and Cyborg turned and hurried back into the ops center. Robin followed at a more leisurely pace. When he was standing in the doorway, he turned back.

"Coming, Raven?"

"In a minute." she said softly.

He nodded and went into the ops center. When the doors slid shut, Raven's hand seemed to move by itself to her lips.

There were a lot of things she should be thinking about, now that she was alone and had the chance to sort out her emotions: how her relationship with Beast Boy was changed now, where they went from there, how they were going to deal with their friends and probably most of the titans network knowing what happened...

Those were all things that she should have been thinking about, but for some reason only one thought stayed in her mind: even though her first kiss had been terrible, she was glad she couldn't say the same about her second.


	3. Dreaming

There were few activities that Raven and Beast Boy both enjoyed. Raven's enjoyment tended toward books and quiet. She watched very little television, and what she did watch always involved plots too complicated for the titans to bother trying to keep up with. Beast Boy enjoyed videogames and noise. He also watched a lot of television, and though he appreciated good writing on a show, he was usually captivated by special effects and frequent, very badass, bouts of violence and sex. One show that somehow encompassed _both _their interests was _Game of Thrones._

Beast Boy had discovered the show first and started watching it one night in the ops center while most of his friends were out. Raven had been there, but she'd had no interest in watching anything with him, preferring her book. She'd complained at first about his watching TV while she was trying to read, but by the beginning of the second episode, both of them were enthralled. From then on, they watched every episode together.

A few nights later, when they were in the middle the ninth episode, Cyborg found them. Definitely not used to seeing them together like that, especially since it looked like they'd been sitting with one another for a while without bloodshed, Cyborg had to ask,

"What are ya'll watching?"

"_Game of Thrones_." they intoned at the same time.

Okay. That was creepy. Worried that there was some hypnosis shit or something going on, he asked another question.

"What's it about?"

"It's a complex medieval drama full of subplots and political intrigue that deals with themes like honor, incest, and the hypocrisy of the ruling class." Raven replied without looking away from the screen.

Okay. Cyborg could admit that that sounded like something Raven would be into. Why was Beast Boy watching it with her? He raised a brow in silent question when the changeling looked up at him.

"Dude, there is blood, gore, a lotta naked girls, and a sassy dwarf who gets astronomical amounts of pussy."

And _that_ definitely sounded like something BB would watch. Hell, it sounded like something _he'd _watch. He turned his attention to the TV to see if anything interesting was happening. There was a group of men onscreen. One of them was most likely the dwarf character BB had mentioned. It was Peter Dinklage, so that was a plus. The men were talking:

_"When the battle commences, you and your wildlings will be in the vanguard."_ an older man said.

_"The vanguard?"_ asked Peter Dinklage.

"_Mm-hmm._"

"_Me and the tribesmen on the front lines?_"

"_They do seem rather ferocious._"

_"__Ferocious? Last night a Moon Brother stabbed a Stone Crow over a sausage."_

"I'm sold." Cyborg announced. He flopped onto the couch on Beast Boy's other side, not noticing the glare Raven sent in his direction. "Catch me up, Green Bean."

"Nah, dude." Beast Boy replied, still looking at the screen. "Too much to tell. You can watch it yourself later."

Together, they watched _Game of Thrones. _Cyborg noticed that he was the only one making sarcastic comments, which was unusual when he and Beast Boy were watching a show. His best friend responded to what he said well enough, but it seemed like Beast Boy would have preferred it if he didn't say anything. Raven definitely would have preferred it, if her stony silence was anything to go by, so he shut up after a couple of minutes. The only thing that got a rise out of either of them was when, towards the end, some douchey looking blonde kid ordered a dude's head cut off. Beast Boy swore loudly and turned into a monkey so he could flip off this "Joffrey" character with both his fingers and toes. Raven simply stared, slack-jawed, at the screen. After the beheading, the screen faded to black.

"Dude!" Beast Boy yelled, morphing back into a human. "That is just wrong! I mean I knew Joffrey was a shit, but can you believe that?!" To Cyborg's surprise, he looked at Raven when he said this.

"It looked like they were building up to it, but I didn't believe they'd actually do it. Ned was a point of view character! Point of view characters are _never _killed off, not even in books." Raven replied, with an eagerness that surprised Cyborg. This must be some show, if it was making two people as different as Beast Boy and Raven talk about it like a pair of fangirls.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool." Cyborg said, interrupting them. "So we gonna watch the next episode?"

Beast Boy and Raven looked at each other and seemed to reach some kind of silent agreement. That was kind of unnerving, because usually _he _was the only one BB did that with.

"Nah," Beast Boy said. "_Game of Thrones_ is one of those shows where you have to take a break every couple of episodes and let it all sink in."

"But, what about what happens next?" Cyborg demanded. "I wanna see more of that Tyrion guy!"

Beast Boy grinned at that. "You liked him, huh? He's my favorite. Rae's, too." He gave the empath a gentle nudge, which earned him a mild glare in return.

"I have never seen you two agree like this." Cyborg commented.

"What? Anybody would agree that Tyrion's awesome." BB said.

"He is the only person who's both decent and politically savvy enough to survive on this show." Raven added.

"Dude is my new role model. From now on, I will go through my life asking WWTLD? What Would Tyrion Lannister Do?"

"That'll go great." was Raven's sarcastic reply.

"What?" BB asked, offended. "I can totally be like Tyrion!" He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Wanna be Shae?"

Cyborg's jaw dropped. Was BB flirting? Was that what was happening right now? Grass Stain was so dead. Cyborg was even more surprised when Raven just raised a brow at Beast Boy before saying,

"Please, if anyone is like Tyrion, it's me. _You _can be Shae."

Raven was flirting back! And she _brought it _too. How else could Cyborg describe her saying she's like a dude who practically introduced himself himself by telling a girl that he wanted her to "fuck him like it's his last night in this world"? Just...damn.

Beast Boy seemed to miss the point though.

"I would totally be Tyrion." he insisted.

"Sure," Raven, replied, rolling her eyes. She stood up. "I'm going to bed. Do _not _watch the next episode without me." She gave Beast Boy a warning glare that had him shrinking into his seat.

"I won't," he said meekly. "'Night, Rae."

Cyborg noticed that she didn't correct the shortening of her name. She just made a noncommittal sound and walked out. That was new too, he realized.

"I'ma head to bed too. Maybe you could marathon the first eight episodes, so you can watch the new one with us tomorrow?" Beast Boy suggested.

"Alright," Cyborg said with a shrug. "It looks cool. I'll do that. 'Night, B."

"'Night, Cy." With that, he left the room.

* * *

_Beast Boy was in a tent. The first thing he noticed was that his outfit was one he'd never worn or seen before. It was all loose and flow-y, and it looked like it would drop off him with just a touch. He felt really exposed. _

_ The next thing he noticed was that, for some reason, Jinx was standing by the entrance to the tent, looking bored. Even weirder, she was wearing chain mail, and she had a sword strapped to her belt. Before he could ask what was going on, the tent flap opened, and Raven came in, looking annoyed. _

_ Her outfit was weird too. She was wearing what looked like an oversized shirt with a lot of fancy designs sewn into it, leggings and boots. Without talking to anyone, she went over to a table and poured herself a goblet of wine, something very out of character for her. After a few swallows, she looked first at him and then at Jinx. _

_ "__Where did you find one so pretty at this hour?" _

_ Beast Boy's eyes went wide. Pretty? Him?_

_ "I took him." Jinx replied._

_ "Took him? From whom?" Raven asked. _

_ "From, uh Lady—what's her name? I don't know. Blonde bitch three tents down."__  
"__And she didn't have anything to say about it?" _

_ "She said something." Jinx snickered.__  
"__Well, the odds of me living long enough for her to retaliate just dropped drastically."Raven said dismissively. "We'll be at the vanguard tomorrow."__  
"__Oh. Well. I better find myself one." Jinx said thoughtfully, giving him a quick glance. With that idea in mind, she walked out._

_ Raven turned her attention back to Beast Boy.__"Who are you?"_

_ "Who would you like me to be?" he teased, surprising himself._

_ "What did your mother call you?_

_ "Gar. What did your mother call you?" _How _did he sound like this? He'd never thought of being _flirty_ with Raven. Right now though, it felt natural._

_ "My mother died giving birth to me."_

Wow, downer_, he thought._

_ "Is that why I'm here?" he asked out loud. "So we can talk about our mothers?" _

_ "What sort of accent is that?" she asked, ignoring his question. She took another sip of her wine._

_ "Foreign." he replied stiffly. He wondered why he sounded so annoyed._

_ "For—" _

_ "What do you want from me?" he interrupted, surprising himself again. He was being kinda rude. It was weird. _

_ "What do I want from you?" Raven asked thoughtfully. She moved away from the table and sat down, making a show of crossing her legs. He couldn't help but stare at them. God help him, she had great legs. _

_ He watched her lean back in her chair, throwing one arm across the back of it. With her sitting like that, his eyes were drawn to her upthrust breasts. He couldn't help looking back and forth between them and her killer legs. Part of him was mortified to be ogling her like that—his loose pants _definitely _weren't good for hiding any reaction he'd have—but another part of him was assessing her. He couldn't help but notice that this wasn't how Raven normally moved or sat. It surprised him that he knew enough about her usual mannerisms to tell that these were off. This Raven's movements were all languid and confident. They made him think of a lioness stalking prey. _

_ His attention snapped back to her words when he realized she was speaking again. _

_ "I want you to share my tent. I want you to pour my wine, laugh at my jokes, rub my legs when they're sore after a day's ride. I want you to take no other woman to bed for as long as we're together." _

_ She leaned forward and gave him a long look that also made him of a lioness. One whose prey had just been cornered. Then she told him the last thing she wanted from him. _

_ "And I want you to fuck me like it's my last night in this world—which it may well be."_

_ Hearing the "fuck" come from her lips, in that throaty, raspy voice of hers made his prick jump to full attention, loose clothes be damned. _

_ "And what do I get?" he asked aloud. _Like having sex with her isn't enough?!_ he screamed in his head. _

_ "Safety. No one will hurt you for as long as you're mine." She leaned back in her chair again and took another sip of wine."The pleasure of my company, which I have heard is spectacular."_

_ "Who told you this? Men you paid?" he asked, and inside, he cringed._

_ "And three," she said, ignoring his rudeness."More gold than you can spend if you lived a thousand years. Do you accept my proposal?" _

_ He felt his mouth slowly curl into a sly smile. He lifted his hands to his shoulders and pushed at the cloth, making his overlarge shirt slide down to the floor. All he wore now was a pair of loose pants that did nothing to hide how he _really _felt about her 'proposal.' He walked to her and braced himself by gripping the arms of her chair. He leaned forward so his mouth was less than an inch from hers._

_ "Let's start with your last night in this world." he breathed, and then his lips closed over hers._

* * *

Beast Boy opened his eyes wide and then blinked a few times. It took him a little bit to figure out he wasn't still dreaming. After a minute, he took a beep breath and then let it out slowly.

_That was...interesting, _he thought. Apparently, his brain wasn't the only part of him to think so. He lifted up his blanket and looked down.

"Good morning to you, too."

* * *

Later, Cyborg was cooking breakfast. Raven sat at the counter, reading a book. Just as he was finishing up the batch of pancakes he was working on, Beast Boy came in the kitchen, looking a little flushed.

"Hey, Raven?" he asked.

She looked up.

"I've changed my mind. You're definitely Tyrion."

And Cyborg was pretty damn sure BB was definitely Shae.

* * *

_Showing my GoT love. :) I know Tyrion and Shae is a bad relationship to compare with, especially to those of you who know what happened in season 4. I loved their relationship in Season 2 though, and I feel like Tyrion and Raven are pretty similar. Hope you enjoyed it!_


	4. Protection

Per Robin's orders, each of the Titans was expected to get a physical twice a year to make sure they were all in peak physical condition. For convenience, most of them went to Cyborg to get their physicals. His technology was better than most hospitals', and he had a way of putting them at ease that other doctors seemed to lack. He also went above and beyond for their health, sometimes making suggestions that other doctors might deem unorthodox. It wasn't that Cyborg was trying to make his friends do things they didn't need to; he just wanted to make sure that they knew about all their options. Occasionally, his friends thought he went a little too far, but they knew his heart was in the right place.

This tendency to present unusual treatments to his friends almost got him into trouble one day. It was at the end of Raven's second check-up of the year, and, as usual, she had gotten a clean bill of health. She was about to leave the infirmary when Cyborg stopped her.

"Hold up, Rae. I wanna talk to you about something. Sit down?"

Giving him a quizzical look, she obeyed, and he tossed her a packet of blue-gray pills.

"What are these?" she asked, turning the package over in her hands.

"They're birth control pills. Take one every night before bed with a snack. I'm serious about that. I know you skip meals sometimes, but they'll make you nauseous if you take 'em on an empty stomach. I'll need you to report back to me next month, because they're experimental. They shouldn't cause you any harm, but since they weren't made for someone with demon blood in mind, I had to tweak the doses. Talk to me sooner if you start getting really bad headaches or—"

"Slow down," Raven interrupted. "Why are you even giving these to me?"

"I thought they could help you out with Beast Boy."

Plastic squeaked and cracked as the pill pack was crushed in Raven's fist. "What?" she growled.

Now, Cyborg looked a little nervous. "They're...uh, to help you out with BB?"

He swallowed hard. The look on Raven's face was as furious as he'd ever seen it without Rage herself paying a visit.

"Uh...Rae?" he asked when she didn't say anything after several seconds.

"Is this some kind of joke?" she hissed, getting up from the exam table. "Did Beast Boy put you up to this?"

"What?! No!" Cyborg exclaimed, getting out of his seat. "He doesn't know anything about it!" As a matter of fact, Beast Boy probably would have died of embarrassment if he'd known about this.

"Then why?!" she demanded, walking towards him. "Why give me _birth control_ and make that crack about Beast Boy?"

Cyborg backed up, but Raven matched him step for step, glaring the whole way. When he felt his back hit an exam table, and he tried not to flinch.

"Why?!" Raven snapped again, throwing the pill pack to the floor.

"It wasn't meant to be a crack, Rae! I swear! I honestly thought you and B had somethin' goin' on is all." He raised his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Why the hell would you think that?"

"_Game of Thrones_..." he said, and this time he did flinch.

"I wasn't aware watching television together required birth control!"

"There's also the flying thing..."

"What. Flying thing?" Raven asked through gritted teeth.

"You fly together at night sometimes. I've seen you. I thought they were like dates or something!"

"We do that when neither of us can sleep!" she yelled.

"Well, it seemed couple-y!" Cyborg yelled back. "You add all that to the kiss you laid on him on his birthday, and what else am I supposed to think?!"

"That we're just friends! How about that?!"

"I know damn well you don't go macking on people who are 'just friends'!"

"It was a distraction, so Starfire could finish his party!"

"Bullshit! That kiss overheated _my _circuits from across the room!"

"Well, maybe you should get them checked, because _obviously _your circuits are faulty!" Raven snapped.

"My system is one of the best in the world!" Cyborg shot back. Just after he said it, he realized how stupid he just sounded. This wasn't even about him. It was about Raven. And Beast Boy. And what was best for both of them. He couldn't help anyone if _he _got mad too. Even if Raven did say mean, _totally inaccurate _things about his circuits. He took a deep breath, and the next thing he said was much calmer.

"Faulty circuits or not, Rae. I was there. Remember? And I could tell that that kiss meant something. For both of you. _That's _the biggest reason I thought there was something going on between you."

At his calm response, Raven took a deep breath as well. Her reply still sounded irritated, but she wasn't yelling at anymore.

"There's _nothing_ going on between us."

"Do you want there to be?" Cyborg asked before he thought about it. When Raven didn't reply, he called her name.

"Why would I want something between us?" she asked.

She was dodging the question. Good. That meant she was on the defensive.

"You both like _Game of Thrones..._"

"So? Liking the same TV show is hardly the basis for a relationship."

"You do that night flying thing..." Cyborg continued, ignoring her protest.

"I told you. We do that when we—"

"And if that kiss was anything to go by, ya'll obviously have chemistry..."

"Again, not a good basis for a relationship!"

"And he makes you happy." Cyborg added, "I remember you actually smiled when he said you could be Tyrion."

"That was a smirk. It doesn't count."

"It totally does."

"It doesn't." Raven insisted. "I'm never happy."

"Are too. I've met her!" Cyborg said smugly. "She even thinks BB's funny, so that's another point on the 'ya'll should get together' scale."

"Except I can't _show_ him that I think he's funny." Raven replied, and this time, instead of angry, she sounded...resigned. "Or that I like flying with him. Or that I appreciate when he actually makes intelligent points when we talk about _Game of Thrones. _Or anything else."

_Now, we're getting somewhere, _Cyborg thought. He'd better make sure though.

"Like you wanna kiss him again?" he teased gently.

Raven glared at him, but she didn't deny it. After a moment, she spoke again.

"You know how dangerous my emotions are. If I let him close, I could literally hurt him. I might even kill him if we fight."

"Ya'll fight all the time, and you haven't killed him yet." Cyborg pointed out.

"Because every time we do fight, I have to leave and meditate for an hour."

"So, keep doing that. Next issue."

"Positive emotions make my powers flare too, Cyborg." she snapped.

"Not nearly as much as the bad ones. I've known you long enough to see that. Next."

She scowled at him but didn't say anything else.

"Okay. One more question then: if you found something that could make you worry just a _little bit _less about your emotions, would you date Beast Boy?"

"It's impossible." Raven declared.

"That doesn't answer the question."

"If what I 'found' wasn't surgery or massive amounts of drugs, then yes, I would date Beast Boy if it made me feel better about my emotions."

Cyborg grinned. "That's what I like to hear. Move back a little, will you?"

She was still glaring at him, but she obeyed.

He bent down and picked up the pill pack she'd thrown. When he straightened, he saw that she looked even angrier, but this time he wasn't afraid. He held up the now misshapen pill pack.

"Did you know that these things do more than keep you from regretting a hook up for eighteen years?"

"I've heard some things, but I've never had reason to look into it." Raven admitted.

"I actually didn't know they did more stuff than that until I went to a medical conference a few months ago. There was a lot of women's health stuff up there that I checked out, because I wanted to be more help to you and Star. Some things I learned about these is that they regulate periods, ease cramping, lessen acne breakouts..."

"And what does any of that have to do with me?" Raven interrupted.

"I wasn't finished." Cyborg pointed out. "Anyway, these things do all that stuff by regulating hormones. You know what regulating hormones does? It regulates emotions. It's not like actually drugging you or anything. It just makes your hormones more chill, so you're not as prone to mood swings. Less mood swings means less anger means less power flares for you. See what I'm gettin' at?"

Raven was wide-eyed now. "So, you were giving me these because..."

"Because they help with your emotions," Cyborg confirmed. "So you don't have to worry as much about possibly hurting BB. And yeah, I'll admit, I kinda thought you guys were gonna have sex."

It was a testament to how shocked and touched Raven was that she didn't smack him for that last part. Instead, she was staring at the birth control pills like each one was made from solid gold.

"You gonna take 'em?" he asked, lightly waving the packet.

She gently took them from his hands.

"You gonna think about possibly dating Beast Boy?"

Still staring at the pills, she nodded.

"Hey." Cyborg said. He gently took Raven's chin and made her look at him. "It's not gonna be like a cure-all, but I thought they'd help. I hope that's enough."

"It's really more than I could have hoped for." Raven said sincerely. "Thank you."

Cyborg grinned. "Just don't forget to use a condom, now." he teased.

Raven smacked him.

* * *

_Birth Control...protection in more ways than one, hm? :)_

_I hope people don't think I'm feeding into the stereotype that the only reason women feel negative emotions is because of their period. Obviously not true. However, hormones do have an effect on mood/emotions, so regulating them helps mood and emotions. I feel like Raven would feel more secure about her emotions if she had something that she felt helped a little. Hope you like it!_


	5. Firsts

Their first fight as a couple happened two weeks after Raven and Beast Boy started dating. Up until that point, things had been good. Very good. There had been no fighting or sniping between them. When she requested that she be left alone, he acquiesced, and when he asked that she try something new, she did it, even if she hadn't been particularly interested in it before. These experiences had helped open a few new interests for both of them, but most of the time, the onslaught of new things left her tired. When that happened, they would simply sit together, occasionally kissing. It had all been very calm and comfortable. It had been good.

Too good.

Too good to the point of stilted.

Too good to the point of _boring. _

Raven couldn't remember what had sparked their first fight, but now that she was thinking about it, she was certain that the surprising _blandness_ of the past two weeks had been what provided the kindling. They'd both been denying their natures to try and please the other, so neither of them were happy.

_And now it might be over, _Raven thought, and despite her attempt to remain calm, she felt a harsh pain deep in her chest at the thought.

The fight had actually been refreshing when it started that morning. It felt...like it had been before. After all, fighting was what they did. It was play for them. But it had quickly escalated, and after a time, Beast Boy had walked out. Raven thought that he'd just needed to calm down, but when she'd finished _her _hour of cooling off, he was nowhere to be seen.

That had been hours ago, and their friends had started to worry. When it got dark, and there was still no Beast Boy, Cyborg had activated the tracker in Beast Boy's communicator and went after him. Starfire and Robin had tried to "be there" for Raven, whatever that meant, but they'd eventually left her alone at her request. As far as she knew, they were sitting in the ops center actually _enjoying _being a couple. She was perched on the roof, looking at the stars and feeling numb.

It was just after midnight when she heard a sound. It sounded kind of familiar, but she couldn't quite place it. Curious, she left the roof in search of the noise. She flew through the dark halls of the tower, and when she got close to the ops center, she realized the sound was singing.

"I'm invisibleh shaken! Quietly breakin,' desperately takin' one step AT A TIIIME!"

Loud, slurred, and horrendously off-key singing, but singing nonetheless. A second voice interrupted the first's attempt at some power ballad.

"Man, if you don't shut up with that shit, I'm makin' you sleep in the garage!" Cyborg snapped. The other voice, which Raven now knew to be Beast Boy, continued to loudly.

"Beneath this composure... I know it's over...BABY, I'M DYIN' 'CAUSE YOU CAN'T BE MIIIIINE!"

"You sound like a human basset hound! Shut up! Since when did you even start listening to country anyway?"

"Since I realized it's the only music that truly understands my pain!" Beast Boy practically sobbed.

"That does it," Cyborg said. "I'm gettin' Raven."

"Why bother?" Beast Boy asked belligerently. "She won't care."

That was what did it for Raven. She opened the door to the ops center and immediately flew in to find Cyborg and a very drunk Beast Boy sitting in the kitchen. Cyborg was holding one of Beast Boy's shoulders. When he caught sight of Raven, he stood and stalked over to her, not noticing that without his support, Beast Boy flopped over and slid from his chair.

"Do you _know_ the kinda hell I went through chasing down your jackass of a boyfriend?!" Cyborg demanded.

Raven opened her mouth to answer, but he just plowed on.

"He was in some dive country western bar in Fish Springs, Nevada! You ever heard of that place?! Neither have my systems! This place is so podunk my tech didn't even pick it up. I had to actually get out, in the middle of the desert, and ask around! Imagine how well that went, a damn robot asking if anybody'd seen a little green dude! Some old lady thought I was a martian and followed me for hours, yelling at people not to talk to me in between hitting me with her cane!"

Raven tried to interrupt, but Cyborg wasn't having it.

"Then! And _then, _I find your little green idiot in a bar straight out of some cheesy Western where everybody in it is side-eying me not because I'm half-robot, but BECAUSE I'M BLACK. A freaking cyborg walks into his bar, and the first thing they do is check the color of the three patches of skin I got left!"

"WHAT?!" Beast Boy screeched from his spot on the floor. He sat up, using a chair leg for support. "THEY WERE RACIST?!"

Cyborg looked like he was about to explode. He took a deep breath and then answered with forced calm. "Yes, Beast Boy. That's usually what it means when a dude says he doesn't like 'coloreds' in his bar."

"Oh." Beast Boy said thoughtfully. "I thought he was talking about me."

At that, Cyborg's face went totally blank.

"Cyborg?" Raven asked, concerned.

"I'm goin' to bed. Fix whatever problems you got with him, because if I have to hear him sing any more country music, I'm gonna lose my mind." With that, he left the room, leaving Raven alone with Beast Boy.

She walked to the kitchen and took a seat next to him on the floor. She put a hand on his shoulder. "Beast Boy?"

With apparent reluctance, Beast Boy let go of the chair leg he held and turned to face her, leaning against the counter for support. "Hey, Rae." He sounded so dejected that the pain from earlier returned to her chest.

"Hey." she whispered through the tightness in her chest.

"We can still be friends, right?"

This was it. He was breaking up with her, and they'd lasted barely two weeks.

"Do you really want to break up?" she sighed.

Beast Boy shook his head. "No."

"I don't either." she replied.

Now, Beast Boy looked confused. She felt the same.

"So... why all this?" he asked, gesturing between them.

Raven assumed 'this' was the unnecessary angst they were currently suffering from.

"I don't know. You just left." she said.

"You left first!"

"To meditate. Like I normally do when we fight."

"This was our first fight though." Beast Boy pointed out, confused.

Raven rolled her eyes. "It was not, and you know it. Before we got together, we fought all the time, and when we did, I had to go to my room and meditate after. Now, you. Why did you leave?"

"I honestly thought you were gonna dump me," he admitted. "I made you angry, maybe hurt your feelings. You're not supposed to do that stuff to your girlfriend. You're supposed to try and make her happy. I wanted to make you happy."

"Did you ever think that maybe you were trying a little too hard with that though?" Raven asked.

"What do you mean?"

"I've been thinking about it since you left. I can't even remember what we were fighting about, but I have thought about us over the last couple of weeks. We've been together all the time, and we haven't disagreed about anything, which is strange for us, and it feels like everything is forced. I think we've both been trying so hard to make the other happy that we're making ourselves unhappy. Now it's week two, and we're both miserable and fighting."

Beast Boy closed his eyes and sighed. "Does this mean that, even though we don't want to break up, we probably should?"

"No." Raven said firmly. Now that she was sure they weren't going to break up, she was going to think of ways to try and fix their issues.

"I think we need to stop trying to grant each other's every wish," she explained. "I think we should act like we did before we dated, except we kiss more often, and once in a while we do something that's just us. I don't really know or care what. Do you believe we can do that?"

Beast Boy opened his eyes and gave Raven a small smile. "You think it's gonna be that easy?"

"Probably not." she said bluntly. "But it's an idea."

"Well, I think it's worth a shot."

Beast Boy was quiet for a moment. "So...does this mean we survived our first fight?"

"I believe it does." Raven replied.

"Does that mean I can kiss you now?"

"Brush your teeth first."

Beast Boy laughed. "Getting right on the 'not granting each other's every wish thing,' aren't you?"

"No," Raven replied. "It's a compromise. Like we did just now."

Beast Boy smiled and laid his head on Raven's shoulder. "Compromise is good."

"Compromise _is _good." Raven confirmed, leaning in to him.


End file.
